High Water Levels Cause Less Recreational Activities

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High water levels are affecting anyone who wants to spend some time on the water. At Sunset Marina in Rock Island, there were less people out on the river than normal.

It’s the first time Jake Miller has been able to get out on the river to fish, "It's been kind of tough, because the river is pretty high, so we're just going to go try our luck and see if we can catch anything."

The river has started to rise causing fewer boats in the water, empty picnic tables, flooded docks and not as many catches. People out fishing had a hard time getting a bite.

"A lot quieter, things are slower, our numbers of checks are down, because of the weather and the high water,” says conservation police officer, Steve Francisko, for Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Francisko says weather this time of year is the complete opposite from last year, "We started in March last year, we had 80 degree weather."

However, when dealing with high waters levels people have to worry about safety, "Anytime the waters get high like that, the current speed increases quite a bit so you got really fast current out there,” says Francisko.

This time last year there were already accident and fatalities on the river. The DNR wants to remind people once the water levels go down to be safe and always have a life jacket.